Day 3 of the Two Oceans Marlin Tournament.

Two anglers have sent in reports of their exciting experiences catching marlin in this year’s Marlin Tournament. Thank you Serge Wessels from Indigo and Grant’s tells how Jacque got his first stripey

Serge’s Story

I was on the boat, Indigo, skippered by Gawie Bruwer. Being a novice to Marlin fishing, I did not realize what a team activity it was, and what experience was required by the other crew. Without the skipper keeping the fish correctly positioned in relation to the boat, the crew member pulling in the leader and grabbing the bill, the member removing the hook and importantly the camera person confirming the catch, there would be a very slim chance of successfully catching and releasing such a magnificent fish. I was fortunate to catch a striped marlin and be part of the crew to catch a black marlin thus, being able to witness the glorious colours of both excited fish as they lit up close to the boat. The black Marlin gave us a fantastic aerial display, making for memorable moments.

Jacque’s Fifth species of Marlin – Story by Grant van der Westhuizen

From zero to complete pandemonium can best describe the sensation of raising a marlin and enticing it to strike in the 2023 Two Oceans Marlin Tournament. The hours of preparation, maintenance, planning, research, and monies that go into catching one of these beautiful creatures of the deep and extremely vast oceans all become worth it when you finally see the silhouette of one of these majestic beasts in the spread.  

The skipper and crew of Mojo had managed to raise a couple of Striped Marlin on day one and two of the tournament and to the frustration of all aboard the fish just wouldn’t commit to what we had to offer. The fish on these days seemed well-fed, lethargic and hesitant to strike. After careful deliberation, we decided to stick to our guns and fish the same area as we did the previous day, after all, we had seen the fish.

Now let me paint the scene for a more than typical day in the 2023 TOMT. Generally, the day starts out full of optimism and as the day grinds on without any result or worse, disappointing results the mood can change, and combined with a little sun, wind, salt, and doubt it can become a mental marathon.

At the start of day three, we reached our fishing grounds and started setting the spread running two teasers short (starboard and port) with a flasher in between with two short Konners, two long and the Japan running way back. The usual tweaking to get the Konner’s running at their optimum and the continual adjusting to keep them running at their optimum in the ever-changing conditions is a responsibility bestowed on Mojo’s fishing master (Gareth Beaumont) and myself.

It had been pre-arranged that be it a Striped marlin skipper Jacques “Mojo” van Niekerk would be on the rod after all the man has a Pacific Blue, Atlantic Blue a Black and a White marlin under his belt and it would only be befitting to give him the opportunity to catch his fifth specie of marlin here in his local waters.  

We had been trolling for a half an hour when one of the competing boats literally five hundred meters away from us went tight on a Marlin. As in the nature and the spirit of the 2023 TOMT we were happy for them, but it was disheartening to say the least. Not long after the vessel Indigo and skipper Gawie Bruwer and crew had successfully caught and released a healthy-sized Striped Marlin. The pressure was on.

We kept grinding away and at 12h00 under the watchful eyes of Beaumont and me we spotted the dorsal fin and shoulders of a Marlin protruding from the beautiful purple blue colour of the ocean behind the Long. As per usual the adrenalin shot threw my veins just in time to see the fish disappear and just before the disappointment could set in the fish was back. The anticipation of a screaming rachet was short-lived as the fish disappeared again and before all hopes were crushed the fish was back behind the same Konner for a third time. Surely this was the moment but to everyone’s despair the fish vanished again just to reappear, and this is when the fish decided to commit. Within milliseconds the unmistakable screaming of a Marlin reels ratchet blasted the silence.

Enter the well-oiled crew of Mojo kicking into action to man their designated stations for the day.  Skipper Jacques van Niekerk stayed behind the wheel as fishing master Beaumont very carefully and patiently set the hook. As the fish took of Beaumont moved to the wheel and Hannes Schreuder leader man and vocals, Anthony Tait cameraman and I scurried to bring in the lines, clear the deck and to get the skipper in the fighting chair. This was it the moment we had all been waiting for. The skipper was a couple of minutes into the fight when this beautiful Striped Marlin breached and showed herself in all her majestic glory. From here it is hard to say how long the fight lasted but after what always feels like an eternity the fish was leadered by Hannes Schreuder and after a quick measurement and tag with the hook removed the fish was released to fight another day. High fives and congratulations all around and the Konners were back in the mix.

What an absolute privilege to see the speed, strength and agility of these animals. See you in the 2024 TOMT.

Watch this space for the final results and Prize Giving as well as more stories from the anglers.

Thank you to Wayne Cooke of John Graeme for his story of how he bagged his first marlin and the first one of TOMT 2023

It is Day One and we are lines in for my 5^th Two Oceans Marlin Tournament  Struisbaai. I must admit I do not have high expectations as I have yet to catch a Marlin or even be part of our team catching one.  As normal the Bonnies are set and ready for action. As has happened over the years the boat gets quiet as the day starts to drift on.

After a while, I’m told that it’s my turn for the next hour to watch the rods. Around mid-day, one reel starts to slowly give line and there is something eating my Bonnie. The next minute our other rod also goes stiff and starts giving line.

“SHARK,” one of the crew calls as surely it’s not possible to hook two Marlins especially as I have never even seen one live.

Hylton Goatley takes charge of one rod and I take the other. I promise myself that I am going to give whatever is on the other end time to swallow the bait, and I give free line for about 2 minutes.  

At the same time, Hylton goes tight on the drag and a big black marlin jumps clean out of the water. There is now total chaos on the John Graeme.   Some run for the black magic and others just run from sheer excitement.

 I then decide to tighten up the drag on my reel, still not believing what is happening. I am happily looking out the back of John Graeme expecting whatever was on my line to show itself as not too much line is being taken. Well, if I bother to look ninety degrees to my left, I will see a massive Marlin jumping and going crazy.

All attention is now on me as I hear skipper, Chris Goatley, radioing that we have not hooked the first Marlin but are still hooked up on the second. I have never had so much attention from the crew before.   I am offered water and asked if I am feeling okay. The doctor on board is even happy to inject me if I require a boost at any stage. 

I am pumped with excitement as I realise that it is up to me to catch this one for the team. This fact is mentioned to me more than once by my team mates!

“Don’t F **k it up, Cookie,” I hear one of them warn.

Well, with great skill from our skipper Chris Goatley and 55 minutes of hard fighting, my first Marlin shows itself next to the John Graeme and with all the skill of the crew and lots of shouting the fish is measured and released to fight another day.

It is a day I will always remember but most importantly the pleasure it gives us all to see it swim away is just magical.

The John Graeme is on the scoreboard, but little do we know there is much more to come……..

Watch this space!

Apologies for not posting yesterday. It was a very busy day and some of the material I needed was not available in time.

Today the boats did not go out to sea due to inclement weather.

Tuesday 15 February 2023

Thanks once again to Koos for sending me some really amazing photographs. Some show exactly why he and his crew stay out at sea as late as possible. Is there any better place to be than out in the wide ocean with a rod in your hand? Well, these anglers certainly think so.

Today the weather continued to play along although the wind is picking up and it was slightly cooler and overcast.

As those of you who have been following these reports know, John Graeme caught the first marlin of this tournament on Sunday. Well today we were surprised to hear that the first call of a hook-up came in at 08:20 was again from John Graeme and Chris Hepburn Brown was the one in the chair. And he fought it for almost an hour before releasing a back marlin.

But that was not enough for this intrepid team. At 10:06 another hook-up on John Graeme was called in. This time John Leppan was in the chair until he released a blackie at 10:38.

Surely the sea gods have their favourites for at 12:17 Indigo who landed a stripey yesterday called in their second hook-up of the tournament. At 13:00 Werner Kotze released a blackie.

Throughout the day other boats called in hook-ups but it was a while before the next successful one was reported – and would you believe it – John Graeme again with Willem Skein landing a blackie!

Indigo almost got another but lost the battle and just when we thought the day was over Bayswater called in and after a short battle brought in a blackie. I was unable to get a good fish clip from their video so will just show you the angler.

The weather started to turn this afternoon. The wind turned to the northwest, clouds gathered and we had a shower or two of rain.

This evening we were treated to another delicious meal of burgers, ribs and chips (French Fries).

For the past three years, special awards have been made to exceptional anglers who have contributed to the tournament and to the sport. This year Gawie Bruwer presented the award to Ted Horn who is now 83 years old and still participating in competition angling. Ted is also well-known for his amazing singing voice and sang Danny Boy with as much gusto as any man half his age!

Then Andrew (Marlin Control) changed hats and became an auctioneer, calling for bids on some excellent wines and other items to raise funds for the Suidpunt Deep Sea Angling Club.

I also managed to get a few team photos. More to follow on prize giving night.

Once again, apologies for the late posting. I received the last video just a little while ago. I am still waiting for the anglers to send in their stories which I will post as they come in.

I am not sure whether tomorrow will be a fishing day. If it is it will be the last day of the competition and Prize Giving takes place tomorrow night. Watch this space for all the results.

Thank you to Koos Pretorius on Gee Spot I have some lovely photos of the morning’s early launch to share.

Today turned out to be very exciting. At 09:45 Indigo called in a hook-up halfway between the Alphards and 45s. They fought until 10:10 when a stripey was measured and released.

At 11:17 Hannes Schreuder on Mojo, closer towards The Alphards, hooked a stripey and released it at 11:57

While I was waiting for the last boats to return to shore I received a call to please go to the end of the harbour wall to capture a very special photograph. Gareth Beaumont had promised to allow himself to be towed back to the harbour on a surfboard if their boat caught a marlin. And of course, they did.

Today is Valentine’s Day and although most of the anglers are without their wives and girlfriends we all celebrated the day. The bar ladies made a special effort.

Dinner tonight was a delicious mussel soup followed by battered swordfish and salmon fishcakes and for dessert, we were treated to decadent chocolate eclairs.

I am trying to get as many group photos as possible and will post these in a future post. I am also collecting the anglers’ stories so watch this space to read about their exciting experiences catching and releasing the hard-to-catch marlin!

I cannot resist posting a few photos not quite related to the fishing. Struisbaai harbour is famous for some very special residents, namely the Short-tailed Stingrays and the Cape Clawless Otters. You can read about Parrie, our most famous stingray here

I have lived in Struisbaai for almost eight years and have never seen the otters but today although it was quite busy at the harbour one of them was there swimming with the stingrays.

The fleet set off in beautiful weather once again and the anglers had calm seas and warm sunshine with just a hint of a breeze.

I did not manage to get a photograph of Gee Spot yesterday so Koos kindly sent me one of his much-loved vessel.

Thanks to Koos, too, for sending this photo of the live bait used to catch a marlin.

Marlin Control is operated from my house so when the calls of hook-ups come through on the radio we all get quite excited and then a little disappointed when the marlin turns out to be a shark. We had quite a few bronze and mako marlins today!

Keeping tabs on where the boats were and when they hooked up on anything was Marlin Control (Andrew Perrins). Rue, his constant companion and competition mascot helped keep an eye and ear on things too.

Toward the end of the day Bad Company had a hookup and fought for over an hour but the marlin won and swam away free. So there were no marlins caught, measured and released today.

“How was your day?” I asked the anglers as they returned to the harbour. “Always good,” most of them replied because a day at sea whether you catch a fish or not is always better than a day at work.

Once again the fleet was well-fed by Marinda and her team. The steak kebabs and roast veggies were delicious.

The weather today started off cool, overcast with a light south-westerly wind. Lines in was six o’clock and the boats began launching at quarter to five.

The overcast conditions did not last and we had a beautiful, sunny day and the fishing was good.

The first call came into Marlin Control at 09:07 when Simon Lowe on My Way reported an on/off. The next was from Gwaza at 11:25 also with an on/off.

Great excitement when John Graeme called in a double strike at 11:50. Wayne Cooke managed to hook and fight it for almost an hour, before measuring and safely releasing it at 12:36. It was a black marlin of 317 Kilos.

Shortly afterward Dory had a black marlin of about 200 kilos play with their baits, give a lit-up performance, and take the live skipjack bait but capture it they did not!

It is not easy to land a marlin. If they’re hooked they will give a good fight and it takes an excellent fisherman to actually win the battle and bring them on alongside to measure and release. Wayne’s story will appear in a future blog.

At four o’clock Lines-up was called and the boats started making their way back to the Struisbaai harbour. I was there to take photographs of their vessels and they all reported having had a great day at sea.

The evening meal was once again totally amazing and the anglers, exhausted by their day at sea headed home for a good night’s rest in preparation for another gruelling day tomorrow.

Saturday 11 February 2023

Today marked the start of the Seventeenth Two Oceans Marlin Tournament, a popular annual event that is held at Suidpunt Diepsee Hengelklub in Struisbaai, Western Cape.

You can click on this link to read about the history of TOMT.

Most of the boats registered at the opening function this evening. There was an introductory meeting to welcome everybody and to go over the procedures that will be followed during the next week. This is a fun catch, measure and release competition and the emphasis is on the conservation of these magnificent fish. All the prizes are donated by our generous sponsors.

The competition will run until Friday next week and the weather looks promising.

This year there are 16 Teams participating in the tournament.

Name of Boat	Name of Skipper
Bad Company	Mike Broderick
Bayswater	Rudi Wessels
Cattitude	Mike Riley
Charlie’s Cat	Charles Geldenhuys
Dory	Dudley Rosslee
Gee Spot	Koos Pretorius
Grace	Gerard Rupert
Gwaza	Andrew van Zyl
Heat Seeker	Richard Donaldson
Indigo	Gawie Bruwer
John Graeme	Chris Goatley
Mojo	Jacques van Niekerk
Multi	Roelof Visagie
My Way	Simon Lowe
O2 Fish	Anton Steyn
Sea Cat	Chris Steyn

Marinda and her team as usual provided an excellent welcoming spit-braai. Below are just a few of the teams enjoying the evening. Watch this space for daily reports of the competition.

This is the last post for this year’s TOMT and what a great competition it has been.

Yesterday, I posted about the Prizegiving and somehow left out a few photographs and thank yous. I have subsequently updated that post so please take another look.

Organising a tournament takes months of preparation and all the organisers do a tremendous job. Thanks to Marinda, Dahlene and all the Suidpunt Deepsea Angling Club staff for their input.

The guys who man the radios are also indispensable in a competition of this nature. I know firsthand how much effort goes into preparing the aerials and radios and the guys involved are truly dedicated. Andrew Perrins is involved in the organisation, the running of the tournament, and the radio control. He is ably helped by Trevor Brinch (Spotter One) and my hubby, Earl Fenwick. Thanks to them for a job brilliantly done.

And now for the final anglers’ story. Dankie Piet Wessels.

I have done a rough translation below for my overseas readers.

Bayswater se Storie deur Piet Wessels

Donderdag 17 Februarie 2022

Die derde dag van visvang het ons geweet dit sal die laaste dag wees wat ons iets kan vang in die kompetisie. Ons het reeds twee visse veloor, een op dag 1 na amper ‘n uur en half 20 meter van boot af wat ons hom aangehad het en nog een op dag 2.

Ons het besluit om dieselfde Konas te sleep aangesien dit al drie visse geraise het vir ons die week sover. Ons het maar dieselfde area gewerk wat ons Dinsdag gewerk het, volgens my was dit die beste kleur water en temperatuur was goed. Die see was rof en dit het maar moelik gegaan om die Konas reg te laat swem.
Ons het nog getrol toe sien Kokkie ‘n vis wat swem agter ons right long. Dit was dieselfde lure waarop ons twee ander visse gehak het vroeer die week. Die vis het ‘n hele ruk agter die lure geswem maar wou nie byt nie.

Kokkie sê, “Toe kom ons maak ‘n lang draai en bly op die area.”

Ons was so halfpad gedraai toe klap die ourigger en die vis was aan. Hy het soos ‘n mal ding agter die boot gespring. Oupa Dawie was in die stoel. Ons het die vis mooi rustig baklei met die rowwe see. Vyf-en- twintig minute later was hy langs die boot en Kokkie het hom geleader. Dis was ‘n swart marlyn van ongeveer 100-120kg. Ons het die vis se hoeke uitgehaal, hom mooi laat swem langs die boot en toe laat gaan. Dit was n voorreg om weer ‘n vis te vang in die kompetisie.

English translation

On the third fishing day of the tournament, we knew that it would be our last chance to get a marlin. We had already lost two, one on the first day after fighting it for an hour and a half then losing it within 20 metres of the boat, and on the second fishing day, we also lost one.

We decided to use the same Konas seeing that they had worked well for us thus far. We worked in the same area as on Tuesday and I believed the water was the best colour and temperature for marlin. The sea was rough and it was difficult to get the Kona to swim.

We trolled and then Kokkie saw a fish swimming behind right long. We were using the same lure that we had the previous two fish on earlier in the week. The fish followed the lure for quite a while but would not bite.

Kokkie said, “Let’s make a wide turn and stay in the area.”

We had turned halfway when the outrigger was hit and the fish was on. The fish went wild and jumped behind the boat. Oupa Dawie was in the chair. We calmly fought the fish in the rough sea. Twenty-five minutes later he was beside the boat and Kokkie leadered him. It was a Black Marlin of about 100 to 120 kilograms. We took out the hook, and let him swim away next to the boat. It was a privilege to once again catch such a fish in the competition.

Thursday 17 February 2022 was the last fishing day of the tournament. It was the anglers’ last chance to land that coveted catch – a marlin of any species or size would do!

Lines in was called at 08h00 and we on the shore listened excitedly as the reports of hook-ups came in. There were a few. Some were makos and bronzies and some were marlin hooked and lost. Only one, the last one of the day and the last one of the competition came in and it was Bayswater that finally won the day!

Lines-up was called at 16h00 and off I went to get some more pictures of the magnificent boats that took part in this years’ tournament.

Friday, 18 February 2022 – Prize Giving

Thanks to the generous sponsors there were great prizes and every boat was awarded something.

Each year TOMT has a flag which is auctioned to raise funds for the next tournament. This year last year’s flag, as well as the 2022 flag, were auctioned.

After this, the prizes were presented. I have posted photographs below and hope I have the team names right.

There are just too many sponsors to individually name here but they are listed on the banner at the top of each of the blog posts. Please support them. They have donated generously and without their support, a tournament like this would not be the same.

After the proceedings, Gareth Beaumont presented a special prize to Derek Kaplan who was quite blown away with surprise.

Once again we enjoyed an awesome meal to celebrate the end of TOMT.

What a great tournament this was. We are looking forward to seeing everyone again next year. Tight lines till then, anglers.

PS – Watch this space for Bayswater’s Story – to be published soon.